Landing on Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview tomorrow, 4th August, Turbo Golf Racing is one you’ll want to keep your eye on if you’re a fan of competitive multiplayer.
Combining golf, racing and combative driving, Turbo Golf Racing from Hugecalf Studios and Secret Mode feels like it wants to take on Rocket League, doing for golf what Rocket League does for football. And you know what? It might just succeed, based on our time playing the game so far. It’s fast-paced, exhilarating and frantic – and in our experience, those are three core ingredients that make any multiplayer game a success.
While we’re sure there’ll be hardcore players who take every match of Turbo Golf Racing super seriously, we think this is a game that will shine with a group of friends, getting together online to have a riot. Up to eight people can join in one match, with each player vying to get their oversized golf ball in the hole before anyone else. You can boost, jump, dash and fire off projectiles at your component, all in the name of coming first.
There’s a range of courses on offer, all coming in different shapes and sizes. Perhaps you have a straight run to the hole, or perhaps you’ll have to weave your way around obstacles like trees, sand dunes and more. Some are more complex, requiring you to hunt out secret tunnels or jump through boost pads to outwit your opponents. This is the type of game where practice makes perfect, and learning each course and its nuances is key to success.
There’s a solid feeling of progression while playing Turbo Golf Racing, too. Completing challenges will unlock in-game currency, which you can spend on cosmetic upgrades for your car, amongst other things.
There are some meaningful car upgrades in the form of Power Cores, too, which you’ll eventually unlock by playing. While you can only have two equipped at once – one active and one passive – they allow you to hit your ball further, fly through the air faster, or initiate powerful abilities such as Ground Stomp. When you’ve got a few Power Cores in your collection, finding the right combination can mean all the difference between winning and losing.
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While multiplayer mode is the bread and butter of Turbo Golf Racing, happily there’s a single player mode, too, challenging you to race against the clock. The ideal place to practice without the fear of coming last in a team match, it’s a mode that’s often missing from multiplayer games. Needless to say, it’s a real treat to see one here already, especially with a stretch of Early Access in front of Turbo Golf Racing‘s full release.
We can’t overstate just how much fun Turbo Golf Racing can be, providing you’re playing with the right group. With friends, it doesn’t matter if you’re terrible; this is all about having fun, performing killer trickshots (or trying and failing) and zooming down a fairway at break-neck speeds. The more cars on the course, the more chaotic it becomes, too: expect balls to go flying off the course, cars crashing into you, rockets sending you airborne, and the rest of it.
We’re looking forward to seeing how Turbo Golf Racing develops over the next year. Hugecalf Studios estimates that it’ll remain in Early Access/Game Preview for around 12 months, during which time numerous free content packs and updates will be added to the game. Upon the launch of 1.0, players can expect more levels, more cars, more upgrades and more game modes. But already it packs in enough content to feel like a full release. This is a seriously polished multiplayer experience, one that’s worth paying attention to if you’re the competitive sort.
Turbo Golf Racing is available from 4th August on Steam via Early Access and on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S as part of the Xbox Game Preview program.
